Data Use Improves ELL Achievement

A study of a representative sample of schools in California shows that schools where the principal and the district extensively used test data to improve instruction and student learning had the highest achievement for English-language learners.

The study also found that schools’ English-language learners performed better in the state’s accountability system if the schools’ curricula and instruction were “coherent” and aligned with state standards. Published by EdSource, a nonprofit organization that monitors education in California, the study is based on a random sample of 257 elementary schools.